Crucial realSSD C300 64GB review

Does adding SATA 6Gbps unleash the power of SSD drives?

Our Verdict

Top performance for bottom dollar. Hard to fault.

For

Outstanding read performance

Better than decent write speed

Value for money

SATA 6Gb/s support

Solid state drives are definitely coming of age. Not only are they increasingly the norm for mid-range laptops and pre-built gaming systems, but we've seen huge leaps in performance lately. From Kingston's SSD Now V+ series to the SandForce-powered Agility 2 and Vertex 2 from OCZ, things are looking good for SSDs.

Crucial's latest realSSD C300 drive is available in three sizes, 64GB, 128GB and 256GB. Inside the drive, the memory chips naturally come from Crucial's parent company Micron, and the controller is by way of Marvell.

There are two things that are really interesting about the realSSD C300, though. First up, it's reasonably priced – a little bit more expensive than Kingston's perhaps, but a lot cheaper than OCZ's offerings.

Secondly, it's one of the first internal drives of any flavour we've seen that make use of the new 6Gbps SATA standard.

SSD read speeds have been getting very close to the limits of the older SATA 3Gbps bandwidth cap. Does changing the interface let them off the leash?